The almost 60 feature-length and short films that will be exhibited for seven days at four local venues are only a fraction of the submissions received for the 6th annual St. Cloud Film Fest.

Festival Director John Scott said at least 800 (!!) movies were submitted, with more than 200 of those flooding in the last week the submission window was open.

Putting that into perspective, last year about 450 films were submitted.

“We thought we’d get about 600 this year, and we were on pace for that,” Scott said. “Then BOOM!”

It’s understandably “daunting and intense to get through them all,” Scott said, but he and an “army of people” screen and rate them.

All of them.

And not just once.

“We try to get each film watched at least twice, so if one person hated it, it’s not completely out of the running,” Scott said.

An image from "Shell All," one of the films to be shown in the St. Cloud Film Fest.(Photo: Submitted photo)

Each year the committee screens the prospects and narrows them down; this year will feature more, well, features, meaning the pool of about 60-65 titles annually will be a bit smaller to counterbalance the longer run times.

And there’s seemingly no limit to category or genre.

Or place of origin.

Filmmakers from all over the world sent in their creations for consideration.

“If you can name (a country) with a city that’s big enough to remember,” Scott said, “we got something from there.”

Films came from 52 different countries, he said, and this year’s Film Fest will include titles from places as prominent as France and Italy to those as tiny as Kosovo and Cyprus. Almost 20 different countries will be cinematically represented.

There are documentaries and shorts and works from students in the Film Studies program at St. Cloud State University; there’s live action as well as animated stylings; there are classics and comedies and heavy dramas and family friendly fare.

And Oscar hopefuls.

Last year, two of the five nominees for Best Animated Short were screened — “Bear Story” and “World of Tomorrow.”

This year, Scott said there definitely are some “that will be up for Oscars; we’ve got possible Best Documentary and Best Foreign Language Films,” he noted, adding there’s potentially another Best Animated Short contender in the mix.

This image comes from "Step into the Page," one of the films in the St. Cloud Film Fest.(Photo: Submitted photo)

Other highlights include free Family Day featuring G-rated selections (Nov. 6), free Master Classes led by nationally recognized producers and directors (Nov. 10, 11), Q & A sessions with filmmakers following most showings — including one with “Captain Phillips” co-star Barkhad Abdirahman (Nov. 11), Awards Show and reception with judges and screening agents (Nov. 12).

When asked about early standouts, Scott didn’t hesitate to reply, “All of them, I’ll be honest with you.”

The St. Cloud Film Fest runs from Nov. 5-12 — with no activities Nov. 8 (go vote) — and is sure to offer something for every cinematic taste.

“The audience is surprised at the quality of the films we’re able to bring in, and the filmmakers are surprised at the quality of the questions from the audience,” Scott said of past festivals. “Everybody seems to have a pretty good time.”